Friday, April 20, 2007

Guðbjörg gave me this wonderful needlerool yeserday as the first day of summer present, and because she knew that I needed cheering up. It is much more beautiful up close, but thanks Guðbjörg for brigthen my day and being such a good friend always.

Tigerstripes socks for my daughter Hulda SveindísMade out of Skacel Tramboline Stretch, that has 70% wool, 7% polyester and 23% nylon in it. Lovely yarn to knit with, probably as good as I have at least three more of those to make.Linda I was thinking about naming them Tigershark socks after the jocke on Beauty and the Geek the other day :-)

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Those socks are knit from the new Crystal Palace Panda Cotton, which is a 55% Bamboo, 24% cotton and 21% elastic nylon blend. The pattern is yarn over cables and the size is womans medium and the pair took almost 2 skeins, Hulda is very happy with them and says they feel wonderful.When knit up this yarn is wonderful but knitting with it is not a pleasure as it splits awfully.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Regular selfstriping sockyarn, orignin unknown but guess OnLine. Cast on 56 stitches and knit with short row heel.I am thinking about knitting up two or four more pairs now for the plunge and then move on to other things like shawls and scarfs. But it is hard to resist knitting socks when you have a stash full of wonderful yarn that you want to know how looks knitted up :-)

Those socks were a gift for my friend Linda, done out of Regia Silk with a simple yarn over cable pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks.You can also see that I got my sock blockers from Chappy's Fiber Arts and Crafts on Ebay, l got those and a set in men's size and also blockers for knee socks.

Friday, April 13, 2007

For those of you that don't know, the customs officials here in Iceland bring out the worst in me. I hate going there if there is something that is not strait forward and I have to deal with them. Usually I just go with my invoice pay the VAT and go home with the newest addition to me stash, but not this morning.I had been overcharged by a German seller due to a misunderstanding about Iceland being in the EU witch we are not. Therefore we are not required to pay VAT in the EU but pay it in Iceland instead, so he refunded the VAT that he had charged me and this did all go smoothly and I got my next order almost free due to the refund I had.BUT explaining this to the customs officials even tho I had an invoice and a Credit Note was a whole other matter. I lost it pretty badly and told them that the only thing that I could compare to going there and have to deal with them would be taking a trip to hell.I told told them that I didn't understand why they assumed that you were lying to them and I didn't like that, I probably said a few other words of wisdom as well ;-)I also got packages from China and the US and had to explain them, one was a few hooks that had been missing from my order of knitting needles from China and the other was a package of Chinese yarn that I don't have a clue why I was getting as I had gotten all the yarn from this seller previously. I told them that and said that they should just keep it as it was not worth the bother. I also got a present from the US and they found this very suspicious but I guess that I am allowed to have friends because they let me have this package.Acutally I got the hooks, the present and the Chinese yarn on my first trip to the customs, I guess they didn't like to upset me any further about the Chinese yarn after I hissed at one of them as he sliced open the package and damaged one of the balls.After sending of 4 emails, 2 phone calls and printing out everything except a report on my love life I went to the customs office again and this time I got the German package, the customs official that I dealt with this time was actually nice and had a humor because he just handed me the package and said that now I could not say that they were not sometimes nice ;-)

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

This is my first pair of Monkey socks now completed. I will be making more of those in the future as the pattern is easy and fun to knit.I am now in the 26th episode of Star Trek TOS so there is still lots of knitting time left while I watch the rest of the series.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Those are socks for Hulda Sveindis knit out of Regia sock yarn on needles nr. 2.25 mm. I cast on 56 stitches and knit ribbing for 25 rows then 50 rows and made a short row heel. Then knitted 60 rows before starting the toe decreases. I am watching Star Trek, the orginal series and knitting and this is a fine way to spend the Easter weekend. I am amazed how well the series hold up after 40 years and how much fun they are still to watch.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

I am pretty exited about this, this is the first time in 10 - 15 years that I have gotten an Easteregg. The kids gave me this egg and for those of you not in Iceland it is the custom to give at least kids this kind of eggs for Easter. The size varies of course but this look is on almost all the eggs, they are chocolate with all sorts of candy inside and a little paper piece with some traditional saying on it. This can be something like "The apple does not fall far from the tree" or such.Anyways this is the biggest egg you can get I think and it is 750 grams of chocolaty goodness.So if I don't post anything for a day or two you know what I am doing, pigging out on the chocolate instead of knitting :-)

Well my little baby has turned 16 years old, this photo was taken a few days ago when he was going to the annual school dance. I can't get over how fast time flies as I feel like I it was just yesterday that I brought him home from the hospital.

This is how far I have got on the Monkey socks, I have started the heel flap and will probably finish the sock tomorrow and then start the other one. This pattern is super easy and very well written and I plan to knit all of CookieA patterns this year as I really like their constructions and also because they are beautiful.

Those were meant to be knitted in garter rib but the yarn is far to busy for that. I decided to knit them just plain to do justice to the wonderful yarn. The yarn is Emily sock yarn from Posh yarn, in the tapestry colorway and is 80% wool, 10% cashmere and 10% Angora. It is so wonderful to work with and will be equally wonderful to wear.

Friday, April 6, 2007

I went to Guðbjörg this evening and started those three pairs of socks, I hope to finish at least on of the socks of each pair over the Easter. The Regia is a self patterning yarn, not pattern just mindless knitting, the other red yarn is the beginning of a Monkey sock and the multicolored yarn is for a pair with a garter stitch rib from the Sensational Knitted Socks book.

Those are the socks responsible for all the red color on my hands. I had no yardage for this yarn so I knitted them from the toe up. This is the first time I have done that and I really like this method.

Thursday, April 5, 2007

These are top down, 64 stitches on 2.25 mm needles, k2p2 rib for 30 rows, knit 50 rows, short row heel and then knit 70 rows and start decreasing for the toe.I have also on the needles, socks from Knitting vintage socks in a lace pattern and I am half way done with a pair of red plain socks for Hulda in Baby Camel yarn. I will probably finish those today and then the lace socks. On the Cross stitching front nothing much is happening, but I went to Linda last night and she found the mistake I had made in the Angel of Healing so now I have no excuse not to stitch on that. But wait I have an excuse my hands are looking like I have just murdered someone. This is the fault of the Baby Camel yarn that will get a good socking in Vinegar when they are done because the yarn bleeds allover the place.So the lesson learned from this is, never knit with bleeding yarn if you want to cross stitch something delicate as I will probably have blood red hands for days.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

To tackle this mess will be my Easter project, I have books to sort and magazines and in general put things away so they are not literally hanging from every surface.Hanging it out there for everyone to see will hopefully make my do it, even if I much rather be knitting or stitching :-)

Monday, April 2, 2007

Another knee high sock for my daughter in law, womans medium, knit on 4mm needles starting with 52 stitches and decreasing down the calf to 44 stitches. I am almost done with the first sock of a second pair of thees in black for my youngest son in mens M/L

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Well here in Iceland it is after midnight so it is officially April 1rst and time to start the 52 pair plunge. I am kinds of exited about this and have been looking over patterns and books and there is only the problem of choosing from all those wonderful socks.I will finish the red knee highs and then move on to one of the Regia plain socks for starters.

This yarn will be used gradually through the year in the 52 pair plunge, there is much yarn goodness in there so I will probably do a boring sock and then treat myself to one of those wonderful skeins.